Exclusivity Agreement

 

TIDMONG 
 
RNS Number : 3615O 
Oxford Nutrascience Group PLC 
29 June 2010 
 

                          Oxford Nutrascience Group plc 
                    ("Oxford Nutrascience" or "the Company") 
  Collaboration and exclusivity agreement with world's largest Omega-3 supplier 
                            for confectionary chews 
Oxford Nutrascience ("the Company") has signed a European exclusivity supply 
agreement with Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited, the world's largest supplier of 
Omega-3 EPA/DHA ingredients to the dietary supplement and food manufacturing 
markets. 
 
Under the terms of the five year agreement Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited 
("ONC") will supply it's MEG-3  branded Omega-3 ingredients for exclusive use 
across the European Union, in any of Oxford Nutrascience's confectionery chews. 
 
In addition Oxford Nutrascience and Ocean Nutrition Canada have agreed to work 
closely together to cross-sell each other's products to their own customer 
bases. This collaboration agreement will provide Oxford Nutrascience access to 
many of the largest food and supplement manufacturers who use ONC's MEG-3 
ingredient in their products. This will create a significant marketing 
opportunity for Oxford Nutrascience to fully exploit its chew technology. 
 
As the world's foremost producer of Omega-3 EPA/DHA from fish oil, ONC sets 
global standards for product purity, quality, reliability, innovation, and 
service. MEG-3  ingredients meet or exceed worldwide quality standards with some 
of ONC's fish oils being the first and only fish oils to achieve United States 
Pharmacopeia dietary supplement ingredient verification. 
 
Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited's MEG-3free flowing Omega-3 EPA/DHA powder has a 
unique molecular construction that locks in the health benefits of Omega-3 and 
locks out even the slightest taste of fish. The health benefits of fish oil are 
believed to include brain and eye development in infants and cardiovascular 
benefits in adults. 
 
Omega-3 enriched foods and beverages have entered an explosive growth phase in 
the global retail market, according to Packaged Facts (2007), which also 
forecasts Omega-3 sales to be worth about $7 billion by 2011. Market researcher, 
Nielsen recently noted that Omega-3 products have bucked the recession to record 
42 percent growth during 2009 in the US, as consumer interest in healthy eating 
grows. 
 
Oxford Nutrascience's soft chew technology uses soluble fibre to enable 
functional ingredients such as vitamins and minerals to be added without 
compromising taste, texture and stability. Importantly the technology also 
deliversconfectionery that is high in fibre yet reduced in sugar and fat. 
 
Oxford Nutrascience has also developed a cranberry supplement chew and both 
chews will be available to consumers during the second half of 2010. The 
products will be promoted as part of the Group's own product range and are also 
being made available to other over-the-counter (OTC) consumer healthcare 
companies seeking to use Oxford Nutrascience's confectionery technology. 
Nigel Theobald, Chief Executive, Oxford Nutrascience Group Plc commented: 
"Having access to the customer base of the world's largest and foremost producer 
of Omega-3 shows the level of trust Ocean Nutrition Canada has in our chew 
technology. Being able to reach the major producers of Omega-3 products is a 
very significant marketing opportunity for Oxford Nutrascience." 
"This is another stride forward into providing customers with healthy chews that 
are a delicious way to get Omega-3 with none of the fishy flavour that taking 
large capsules or chewing oily soft gel capsules can give." 
"Together with our manufacturing partner Lamy Lutti, Oxford Nutrascience has 
already attracted some of the leading companies in the supplement industry 
having demonstrated our capability to develop and mass produce new, high quality 
chew supplements. We look forward to the launch of both our new chews to the 
food supplements market and directly to our own and Ocean Nutrition's customers 
later this year." 
Jon Getzinger, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Ocean Nutrition Canada, 
said: 
"We're very pleased with this partnership, Oxford Nutrascience has a long 
history of developing high quality products and delivering great customer 
service. Their chews have great nutritional value with added vitamins and 
minerals and they have also taken measures to reduce sugar through their 
formulation" 
Oxford Nutrascience has developed a high quality product that is delicious and 
will do very well in the market." 
                                    - Ends - 
For further information: 
www.oxfordnutrascience.com 
 
Oxford Nutrascience Group Plc 
Nigel Theobald, Chief Executive                         [phone] 
Mark Way, Investor and Media Relations            [phone] 
 
 
ZAI Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser) 
Ray Zimmerman                                               [phone] 
Sarang Shah                                                    [phone] 
 
 
 
 
About Oxford Nutrascience Group Plc 
 
·      Oxford Nutrascience is a UK consumer healthcare company that develops 
chewy confectionery, chewable tablets and liquid suspensions to allow medicines 
and vitamin supplements to be taken in a more pleasant and convenient way. 
 
·      Oxford Nutrascience has developed technology for the use of soluble 
fibres in medicine delivery systems that disperse and solubilise medicines, 
improve taste and mouth feel, simplify processing and eliminate additives, 
incorporate prebiotic health benefits. 
 
·      Chews: Oxford Nutrascience currently produces Ellactiva , a calcium chewy 
supplement sold in the UK and in the Middle East, and plans to launch new chews 
to complement this existing product. 
 
·      Chewable tablets and liquid suspensions: The target market for Oxford 
Nutrasciences' Chewitabs(TM) and liquid suspension delivery systems are 
over-the-counter ("OTC") pain relieving drugs, indigestion preparations and 
cough and cold medicines. 
 
 
About Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited 
 
www.ocean-nutrition.com 
 
·      Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited (ONC) is the world's largest supplier of 
Omega-3 EPA/DHA ingredients to the dietary supplement and food manufacturing 
markets. ONC also has the largest privately owned marine research and 
development facility in North America. 
 
·      ONC's MEG-3  branded ingredients offer high quality, odor-free, tasteless 
Omega-3 EPA/DHA from fish oil - the best source of Omega-3 EPA/DHA. 
 
·      By using clean, reliable, sustainable resources, ONC provides our 
customers a competitive edge in the rapidly growing Omega-3 EPA/DHA market. ONC 
customers also enjoy specialized services from critical technical and regulatory 
support to innovative R&D and global marketing support. 
 
·      ONC is based in Nova Scotia, Canada on the beautiful Atlantic coast. Our 
major shareholder, Clearwater Fine Foods Incorporated, retains controlling 
interest in Clearwater Seafood's Limited Partnership - the world's largest 
integrated shellfish harvester and processor. 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
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